Surgery with femtosecond ophthalmic lasers entails generating a pulsed laser beam and delivering the laser pulses by a scanning delivery system through a focusing optics to a sequence of focus spots along a scan pattern in a target region of an ophthalmic tissue. Each laser pulse can create a plasma or cavitation bubble in the target tissue at the focus spot of the laser beam when the beam intensity or energy density exceeds a plasma or photodisruption threshold. During surgery, the focus spot of the laser beam is scanned along a three-dimensional scan pattern, creating a sequence of these bubbles to form macroscopic surgical cuts or photodisrupted regions.
Laser-assisted cataract surgery (LACS) requires the application typically a few million laser pulses. The LenSx® femtosecond laser system manufactured by Alcon® is capable of completing a typical LACS procedure which includes capsulotomy and lens fragmentation in about one minute. During such procedures, the patient lays prone beneath the laser system while the eye is immobilized by a patient interface. The accuracy, precision, and patient experience of LACS can be improved by shortening the procedure time. Accordingly, there is a need for simple, inexpensive, and reliable technique to reduce procedure times of laser-assisted ophthalmic surgeries.